Topology Optimization for Die Casting With Nonplanar Parting Surfaces

Abstract This paper presents a density-based topology optimization method for the simultaneous design of die-castable geometry, die drawing direction, and arbitrarily nonplanar parting surface. Viewing a die casted part as a two-component system consisting of the cavities of die halves, an arbitrarily nonplanar parting surface is represented as the boundaries between adjacent partitioned domains similar to the joints in multi-component topology optimization (MTO). The draw direction of each die half is represented as a probability distribution to avoid premature convergence, and the undercut of a part geometry in the draw direction is evaluated using the gradient of the density field. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the advantages of the inclusion of nonplanar parting surfaces as optimization variables.